Essay #2: Analysis and Description of a Place

ENG 100 - Fall 2010

Instructor: Laura Cline

For this assignment, you will need to choose a place that is

meaningful to you and that is fit for analysis. In analyzing this place,
you are also analyzing its inhabitants. For example, if you are
analyzing your bedroom, you are telling your reader about yourself by
telling the story of the different objects in the room. If you are
analyzing a coffee shop or a public park, you are telling both about the
owners (or the city) and also about the customers or the people that
come to visit the park. Since this is an analytical paper, you need to be
sure that there is enough material for analysis in the space that you
choose. As you may have noticed with the classroom, if there aren’t
really any objects of interest in the room, analysis becomes a stretch.
It is also important that you see the influence of the society in the
space.

Here is a list of questions to address in your analysis:

1. What does this place look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like?
Taste like?
2. What types of objects are in the room?
3. Why are those objects there? Who owns those objects? Why did
they choose to place the objects in their particular location? Are
the objects functional? Do they serve a purpose?
4. What kind of story do the objects tell about the person who
“owns” the space? Do they tell a different story about people
visiting the space?

As you can see there are really three steps to this assignment: 1.
Describe the space; 2. Analyze how the objects in the space tell the
story of the space; 3. Evaluate the space. Does every object in the
space function the way it is supposed to? Could it be improved? Why
do the people who go there like it?

For example: Pretend you want to write about Starbucks. First you
would use your five senses and the things that you’ve learned about
descriptive writing to make the place come alive for your reader. Then
you would start talking about the objects in the place that are useful,
or functional. The counters, for example: Why are they located in a
specific place? Is it the best place? What about the décor? What
purpose does it serve? Then maybe you want to talk about what kind
of people hang out in Starbucks, and why the place is suited to the
people.
Thesis statement: Your essay should have a thesis statement about
the space. In my Starbucks example I could say something like:
Starbucks manages to appeal to two crowds: working professionals,
and young people. It does this by being efficient, but still providing a
peaceful environment.

Logistics: Your final paper should be 2.5-3 pages in length. It should be

typed and double-spaced with standard margins and an acceptable 12
pt. font. You can also feel free to include a visual in your paper. You
can include photographs of the space, or other sorts of visual aids.
However, these do not count towards your page length total.
Proofread, please.